Resources

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Gabor Maté

A physician's portrait of addiction rooted in the lives of Vancouver's most marginalized drug users. Maté argues that trauma — not moral weakness — is the engine of addiction, weaving neuroscience and compassion into one essential read.

Beautiful Boy

David Sheff

A father's agonizing account of watching his son Nic spiral through meth addiction. Sheff's journalism background brings rigorous clarity to the chaos of a family torn apart — and slowly rebuilt — by addiction.

Dopamine Nation

Anna Lembke

Stanford psychiatrist Anna Lembke explains why we are drowning in a world of too much — too much food, too much social media, too many drugs. The antidote, she shows, is pain, abstinence, and radical honesty.

The Body Keeps the Score

Bessel van der Kolk

The definitive guide to understanding how trauma rewires brain, mind, and body — and why so many people reach for substances to quiet the noise inside. Essential reading for anyone in recovery who also carries trauma.

Atomic Habits

James Clear

The most actionable book on behavior change available. Clear's four-law framework for building habits and breaking bad ones is directly applicable to recovery — from building a morning routine to dismantling craving triggers.

This Naked Mind

Annie Grace

Grace dismantles the unconscious beliefs that keep people locked in alcohol dependency — without willpower, shame, or a diagnosis. A cognitive approach that works by making you genuinely not want the thing that once controlled you.

Quit Like a Woman

Holly Whitaker

Whitaker argues that traditional recovery programs were built by and for men — and that women need a different model. Part memoir, part manifesto, this book rejects AA dogma and builds a feminist, holistic framework for sobriety.

High Achiever

Tiffany Jenkins

A Florida deputy sheriff becomes hopelessly addicted to opioids, gets arrested, and rebuilds from rock bottom. Jenkins's voice is raw, darkly funny, and completely without self-pity — a memoir that demolishes the stereotype of who gets addicted.

Unbroken Brain

Maia Szalavitz

Szalavitz, a journalist who recovered from heroin addiction, presents addiction as a learning disorder — not a disease or a sin. This reframing has profound implications for how we treat, judge, and understand people who struggle.

The Big Book

Alcoholics Anonymous

The foundational text of the AA program, now in its fourth edition. Whether or not you follow the 12-step path, the personal stories of recovery collected here are among the most honest accounts of alcoholism ever written.

Easy Way to Stop Drinking

Allen Carr

Carr's method works not through willpower but through reframing — if he can make you see alcohol as the trap it is, the desire to drink dissolves. Millions swear by it. You read it while still drinking and stop by the time you finish.

Rewired

Erica Spiegelman

A recovery counselor and former addict offers a holistic, workbook-style guide to rebuilding life after addiction. Covers identity, self-care, relationships, and purpose — the whole person, not just the substance.

Recovery

Russell Brand

Brand reinterprets the 12 Steps for a secular, modern audience — irreverent, deeply personal, and surprisingly moving. His thesis: addiction is a symptom of disconnection, and recovery is about building a meaningful life.

Clean

David Sheff

A follow-up to Beautiful Boy focused on the systemic failures of America's addiction treatment industry. Sheff makes the case for evidence-based treatment, harm reduction, and a complete rethinking of how we respond to addiction.

Port of Call

Niel Starbuck

A seafarer's memoir of addiction and recovery set against the backdrop of the merchant marine. Starbuck's account is unusual in its setting and unflinching in its honesty — a reminder that addiction finds people everywhere.